White Collar Crime News

Big Wins

The cases on this page represent just some of the recent cases that my firm has handled. Every case is different, no matter how similar the two may seem. Thus, the exact same results are not to be expected. Instead, these cases are just to give you an example of what we do for our clients.

Official Misconduct

-I.R.

Client was charged with official misconduct for stealing funds from his employer, the County Clerk’s Office. Due to his position, the case was very public and very political which can cause numerous challenges. Due to the charges and the client’s criminal record, he was facing many years in prison. Jef Henninger was able to get the official misconduct charges dismissed. As a result, the client was sentenced to three years in prison and is expected to serve less than nine months.

Credit Card Fraud

-Jared F.

Client was charged with about $140,000 in credit card fraud out of two different states. As the charges were already written up, it seemed like the client was too late to stop the case from moving forward. Never one to accept defeat, Jef Henninger moved quickly to resolve the case. In just a few days, Jef worked out a no-interest loan with both credit card companies and got the police to tear up the criminal complaints.

-Karen D.

Client was charged with credit card fraud by her soon to be ex-husband. Jef Henninger moved quickly on the case well before the client was indicted. Jef had numerous conversations with the prosecutor’s office which eventually resulted in a complete dismissal of the charges before the case was presented to the grand jury. This case was an excellent example of the results that are possible when an aggressive attorney gets into a case early and then continuously follows up with the prosecutor to reach a favorable resolution for the client.

Endangering the Welfare of a Child & Child Pornography

-Tom B.

This was a rather high profile due to the client’s position as a politician at the time of his arrest. He was alleged to have had sexual conversations with a purported minor over the Internet. The incident was featured in a ton of news articles. The client was charged with very serious offenses that could have landed him in prison if convicted. He confessed before he hired Jef Henninger and the evidence against him was strong. Jef worked the case out with the prosecutor for a plea to lesser charges with probation and 364 days of county jail time. Jef filed a sentencing brief that the prosecutor viewed as so impressive, that he agreed to slash his recommendation in half. So, the new recommendation to the court was 180 days in jail and not 364. Jef spent about a half hour arguing with the judge, focusing him on the client and his situation, his service to the community and the circumstances of the case. The judge thanked Jef for his zealous advocacy of the client. In the end, the judge gave the client 120 days in jail.

-G.K.

Client was charged with attempted sexual assault and other charges for talking to what he thought was a young girl on the Internet. He instructed her to perform sexual acts in addition to sending her naked pictures of himself. Like so many of these people, he confessed. He hired a fancy, North Jersey attorney who didn’t do much for him in the beginning of the case so he hired Jef Henninger to take over the case. Jef got to work and convinced the prosecutor to dismiss the more serious charges in exchange for a plea to third degree charges. The plea deal called for probation with 364 days in jail. As always, Jef filed a sentencing brief that impressed the court to the point where the client did not have to spend any time in jail.

-T.H, R.H. and J.H.

These clients were a husband, wife and child. They took their computer to Best Buy and child pornography was found on it. Luckily, they hired Jef Henninger at the first sign of trouble. Jef filed a motion to suppress the evidence before any complaint was even filed. The judge fought Jef on his standing to even file the motion before the complaint was filed. It took over two months to get over all of the judge’s hurdles until a hearing was held. Although the motion was denied, the State conceded that they didn’t have enough to bring charges. No one was ever charged.

Insurance Fraud

-R.M & K.M.

This was a real nice couple who were suspected of insurance fraud from their insurance company. They lost some expensive items and their insurance company was giving them problems. Jef Henninger was hired to protect the clients at an examination under oath. The attorney for the insurance company tried to twist my one client’s words around and trip her up. Jef shut that down real quick. The client performed well as she was prepped carefully. A few weeks later, Jef received a letter in the mail indicating that not only would they pay the claim, but they would waive the deductible to settle the case even though Jef never asked for it. No fraud charges were filed and the case was closed.

Fraud, Theft by Deception & Related Charges

-Nicole L.

This case took years to resolve. The gist of the case is that the client and her boyfriend were alleged to have created a fake construction company. They then used that company to buy various high end merchandise, lease apartments, buy and/or lease luxury cars and lead a luxurious lifestyle. Her boyfriend was alleged to have then used this fake company to set up accounts with payroll companies. The companies gave them checks in large amounts (one company gave $464,000) and then they were reimbursed with checks that would eventually bounce. Once you added it all up, the total fraud would probably total over $1 million. They had their house raided by the Secret Service and they were subsequently arrested by New Jersey State law enforcement. Thus, the client was facing State charges with Federal charges on the way

Upon meeting with the client, Jef Henninger knew that the only way to win the case was to start preparing for trial right away. The first job was to get her out of jail which Jef did fairly quickly. The prosecutor was looking to put her in prison for 14 years and that did not include time for the Federal charges.

After many months of going back and forth, Jef finally convinced the Secret Service to consider the client’s story. As a result, they flew in a polygraph specialist from DC. The client was hooked up to the machine for the better part of the day. In the end, she passed with flying colors. At that point, any Federal charges against her were no longer an issue. That just left the State charges.

After a couple of years later, Jef was able to work out the case so that the charges would be dismissed after the client completes a diversion program.

-Ken F.

The client, a general contractor, was charged with second degree theft for allegedly defrauding several of his customers. The State gave no warning of any investigation. Instead, this father of seven with no record was arrested out of nowhere. His bail was set at $125,000. Jef Henninger quickly put an end to the case. A motion to dismiss the case was filed that Jef argued. Jef argued that the case was a civil case and the judge agreed so the case was thrown out.

-David S.

This was a very complicated fraud case that took years to get to trial. The State seemed to think that there was no defense to this case. However, Jef Henninger used the lack of investigation against the State to demonstrate that they only got one side of the story and that story was from the real criminal. Jef showed the jury that this was all a set up to take a business away from a small business owner and sell it for millions. Even though the case was complicated, it took the jury only 90 minutes to come back with a not guilty verdict.

-Sam A.

Client was a construction executive who was charged with defrauding another company on a major construction project. Worse yet, there were alleged mafia ties to the whole case. Jef Henninger quickly filed a motion to dismiss the case. While the motion itself was denied, it showed the State that there was no real case. In the end, a civil arrangement was worked out in exchange for a dismissal of the case.

-Diane E.

Client ran a pool company and was charged with theft by a customer with whom she had a dispute over a pool construction job. Jef Henninger saw the case for what it was: an extortion attempt. The case was fought and within a few months, the Court dismissed the case.

-F.R. and T.R. Clients were accused of defrauding Medicaid by hiding the fact that they owned a house when the filled out the application. They then collected benefits for over two years. Jef hit the ground running and was very aggressive at the earliest stages of the case. As a result, the State agreed to not prosecute the clients. The clients owed $27,000 but Jef got that down to $20,000 and worked out a 14 year, no interest payment plan for them.

Forgery

-Steven B.

Client was charged by his wife with 18 counts off forgery and theft in connection with business transactions related to a business that they both owned and operated. The case was complicated by a divorce and emotions ran high. Jef Henninger filed a motion to dismiss the case but the judge only dismissed a part of the case. Jef filed another motion to get the rest of the case dismissed and the balance of the case was dismissed.

-Colleen P.

Client was charged with forgery and obtaining prescription drugs by fraud. Worse yet, she was facing charges in two different counties. Jef worked quickly with both counties to consolidate them together. Jef then got the charges dismissed after the client completed a diversion program.

Securities Fraud

-M.S.

Client was accused of securities fraud in connection with several companies that he was connected to. With one company, he profited tremendously when the company went public. As a result, the FBI suspected that he was involved in this pump and dump scheme in addition to other crimes.

At the proffer session, both the FBI, the US Attorney’s Office and the IRS Criminal Division indicated that they were convinced that he was guilty. So, Jef knew that he had to act fast. He performed his own investigation which showed that the Government had nothing on the client. As a result, a strong front was put up and the Government backed off. Numerous people were convicted and sent to prison. However, this client was never charged and the statute of limitations has expired.

Piracy

-O.L.

Client was charged with piracy of bootlegging DVDs. This case was tough because the client was facing other charges and he was caught with hundreds and hundreds of bootleg DVDs. In the end, the client was accepted into a diversion program and the charges were dismissed.

Tax Evasion

-D.P.

Client was alleged to have assisted a company that was in the business of helping people engage in tax evasion by opening trust accounts that were used like regular checking accounts. At first, it didn’t look good as the client and the Government was not on the same page. Jef met with the Government before the client was to testify at the grand jury. This allowed Jef to help everyone get on the same page. Instead of taking the 5th, Jef let the client testify truthfully. As a result, the Government indicated that the client would not be prosecuted.